In A Bind, UConn Tried The Youth Approach

Replacements Almost Pulled It Off

EAST HARTFORD — Perhaps lost as we processed UConn's tough 24-21 loss to Michigan at Rentschler Field on Saturday night was that the Huskies had a bunch of young and inexperienced players on the field, mostly out of necessity.

Xavier Hemingway and Dalton Gifford, a couple of redshirt sophomore right tackles, filled in for senior Kevin Friend (ankle sprain). Redshirt freshman John Green (no receptions) filled in for Shakim Phillips (hamstring). who had a career-high 10 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown last week against Maryland. Sophomore linebacker Jefferson Ashiru was tied for second on the team in tackles — and in the game — with eight and had a sack, but he had his moments filling in for starter Graham Stewart (ankle). As far as the game went, the Huskies lost their senior corner, Taylor Mack, to a shoulder stinger. Tyree Clark, a redshirt sophomore, filled in admirably.

"And each of those guys — for example, Johnny Green — is really trying to step up," UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni said Sunday. "He's trying to fill some big shoes. [Junior slot back] Deshon Foxx (60 yards receiving, 18 rushing) is still a first-year player gaining experience. He played and tried to be as productive as he could be. I thought [sophomore running back] Max DeLorenzo (6 carries, 23 yards) went in the game, played 15 or 19 plays, I thought did a good job…Dalton Gifford went in and played really hard. Jefferson Ashiru played down to down, has some things to clean up, but gave us great effort. Tyree Clark had to go in the game. I thought he showed us he can compete. Brian Lemelle caught some punts (five, 20 yards). I probably shouldn't have put him in that situation right before the half [where he almost lost the ball]. I should have left the clock run out, but we were returning punts well. I got a little greedy … I thought from a team standpoint we asked some guys to step up. We asked the older guys to take their game up a notch, and I think we did that."

Crucial Minutes

The Huskies got the ball back at their own 25 with 4 minutes, 36 seconds left after Brendan Gibbons' eventual game-winning field goal. They got up on a third-and 17 quick and were faced with a 4th and 29 with 1:48 left after Wolverines defensive end Frank Clark whipped UConn quarterback Chandler Whitmer around for a 12-yard loss, forcing a fourth-and-29 from the UConn 33.

Pasqualoni not only called one timeout — he called two before the Huskies go their play off, a 26-yard pass to Foxx, short of the first down. Game over.

"Going through my mind on those two timeouts was the first one was to see how they were lining up and just to see what the coverage was going to be and what the front was going to be. The second time, I thought they figured out what we were trying to do, so we put wide receiver Geremy [Davis] on the other side. We tried to change the formation on them, which worked, so Chandler had the option to either go inside or go outside. They were kind of both open, so he took the inside guy and the safety just came back over to Deshon and just stopped him a couple yards short."

'It Hurts'

Junior receiver Geremy Davis (four catches, 52 yards) summed this one all up pretty easily, and his teammates echoed for the most part echoed his sentiments.

"It hurts. You know, being so close against a Top 25 team," Davis said. "I feel like everybody just gave it their all and to come up short just leaves a bad feeling in our stomach … Obviously it was a great opportunity — 8 o' clock, ABC. I think it was sold out, the record and everything. A lot of guys don't get that opportunity so that part was great but obviously we lost so we're going to hurt for a minute."

The 0-3 Huskies have to get a win now. Buffalo, which was outscored 110-33 in its first two games, is now 1-2 after a win over Stony Brook last weekend. The Huskies have dominated the Bulls in recent years but will be looking to change that when the Huskies go to Amherst, N.Y., next week.